Superstitions passed down through generations could shape people’s lives in subtle, yet lasting ways.
Director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) in her debut solo feature film, Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), uses that belief to examine gender roles and expectations imposed on women in Taiwanese society.
The movie follows Shu-fen, played by Janel Tsai (蔡淑臻), a single mother who moves with her two daughters from Taitung County to Taipei, where she tries to start over by running a noodle stall at a night market.
Photo:CNA
As Shu-fen struggles with rent, a strained relationship with her family and mounting tensions with her headstrong eldest daughter I-ann — played by Ma Shih-yuan (馬士媛) — her five-year-old younger daughter I-jing, portrayed by Nina Ye (葉子綺), begins stealing near the night market.
Shu-fen believes her left-handed daughter I-jing’s actions are driven by her “devil hand.”
The film has been shortlisted for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards (Oscars).
Photo courtesy of Left-Handed Girl Film Production Co via CNA
“The plot idea actually came from a high-school memory, when my grandfather saw me cutting food with a kitchen knife in my left hand,” Tsou said. “He got very emotional and told me not to use my left hand, saying that ‘the left hand is the devil’s hand.’”
As the story unfolds, Tsou uses the superstition surrounding left-handedness to highlight social frameworks and conventions unfairly imposed on women — constraints she said “keep them from being themselves.”
Growing up in Taiwan, it often felt as though teachers expected girls to fade into the background and avoid “standing out” so as not to attract “too much attention,” Tsou said.
Pushing back against such restrictive conventions was a major impetus behind the script and a theme established even before she and longtime collaborator Sean Baker — director of Oscar-winning “dramedy” Anora — began writing the film together, Tsou said.
“I said to Sean: ‘If we’re writing this movie, I want to tell my experience as a woman who grew up in Taiwan and all the stories I’ve heard,’” she said.
Tsou said she met Baker at The New School while studying for her master’s degree and he was drawn to her “devil’s hand” anecdote.
The two wanted to make a film in the style of Dogme 95, a Danish movement rooted in a purist approach to filmmaking that they share a passion for.
The idea brought them to Taiwan in 2001 in search of story material, during which Baker encountered staples of Taiwanese life such as betel nut stands and night markets, which feature prominently in the film.
However, with neither filmmaker having directed a feature at the time, securing funding proved impossible and the project was shelved.
Tsou said they continued refining the script and completed it in 2010, but it was not until 2021, when they attended the Cannes Film Festival for Baker’s Red Rocket and spoke with the owner of a French distribution company, that Left-Handed Girl finally secured financing.
“Parasite had won the Oscars in 2020. That kicked down the doors for Asian stories, which were quickly gaining traction,” she said.
Asked what motivated her to hold on to the project for so long, Tsou said the film held deep significance for her and Baker.
“It could have been our first movie if we hadn’t made Take Out,” she said, referring to the 2004 drama she codirected with Baker.
During her search for a distributor, Tsou said it was suggested she shoot the film in New York instead, an idea she rejected outright.
“I was adamant, because the night market is central to the plot. If I don’t film it in Taiwan, the story won’t work,” she said.
The film has screened in theaters worldwide and is available on Netflix.
Tsou said she is glad she was able to show Taiwan to a global audience.
“Making this movie made me rediscover Taiwan’s beauty,” said Tsou, who has lived in the US since graduating from college.
People often grow indifferent to their surroundings after living in the same place for many years, but returning with fresh eyes could make familiar sights and sounds feel new, she said.
“I’d be like, ‘This is so Taiwanese. I’ve got to document this,’” she added.
While the film unmistakably centers on female characters and women’s experiences, Tsou said she hoped it would prompt broader reflection.
“Oddly enough, many conventions have been passed down even though they are completely meaningless,” she said. “I hope the film encourages people to look at their own lives and ask what beliefs they’ve inherited and whether it’s time to let them go.”
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